rules
Latest
The EVE Challenge
Hardcore Casual has thrown down the gauntlet, and challenged all comers to prove something interesting: that EVE Online hasn't yet solved our MMO problems. That's a strange thing to prove, but we here at Massively love nothing more than a challenge, so here goes.HC's point is that in EVE, you can pretty much do anything the way you want to, anywhere at any time. EVE is limitless in terms of both progression and size-- skills can be leveled for months and years, and even if all the skills are maxed out (they won't be, because CCP keeps adding new ones), there's always more ISK to be made. And because the game is so big and mostly empty space, everyone can play on one world, and there's no need for the sharding that other games must do to keep their servers up.However, as much as I love EVE, it is not a perfect MMO.
AVS Forum reopens Blu-ray / HD DVD boards, new rules abound
Format fanboys (and girls), we sure hope you've taken the time to cool your apparently heated jets, because AVS Forum is putting its foot down from here on out. Just days after the site shut down the HD DVD / Blu-ray boards due to the zaniness that was ensuing, it has reopened the forums for new postings -- but there's a laundry list of rules to go with it. Granted, the site does recommend finding a new home to vent your off-topic frustrations if you aren't down with the new regulations, but overall, we think they're pretty fair. Effectively immediately, users aren't allowed to throw out sales figures, troll others, attack statements or petition for one format or the other. For those who slip up and cross the newly drawn line, you will likely be banned and have your posts removed, so we'd recommend thinking thrice before pulling the trigger on a rage-filled writeup over there.
The concept of MMOrality, and how players pass it around
Ryan Shwayder has a look up at what he calls "MMOrality"-- the idea of a calling within any given game that determines how we as our avatars act. When newbie players first sign on to a new game, they are innocent in every meaning of the word-- they have no idea how to act, and even though they may do things that are against the ingame code (killstealing, ninja looting, grabbing quests without grouping, and so on), they are innocent, because they don't know yet what's right and wrong. Only after they're introduced to the "MMOrality" within the game can they figure out whether they want to be immoral, and go against the codes put in place by the game, or moral, and follow the etiquette and standards laid out by the other players.It's an interesting thought, and not a new one-- just as we have morality in the real world, our virtual worlds also have their own codes that can be upheld or broken. Shwayder speculates, however, that this morality requires PvP-- players can only uphold the morality they've put in place if they have the option to control other players by ganking them. But I'm not so sure that's true.
iGTD 1.4.5: Again with the landslide of new features
It's official: I am developing my own version system to keep track of iGTD updates, because this 1.x.x thing is just not right. The way I see it, this new iGTD v1.4.5 should really be called v3.5, what with yet another batch of major new features being introduced. Included in this update is F-key integration with PathFinder, Yojimbo and MacJournal (so you can send items from these apps to iGTD for task tracking), a Quick Tags feature that allows you to bind tags to shortcuts like Alt + 1 - 9 and a killer new feature that integrates with an Apple Mail rule. Once set up, this rule allows you to email yourself with a subject like "todo: @work spike the water cooler" and Mail will send it on over to iGTD automatically. For anyone who works in an office and away from their Mac at home, this is a killer way to make actual use out of all those todo emails you send yourself all day.Of course, I don't even need to tell you that there are more features in this update. By now it's become par for the course that an iGTD update brings tons of other enhancements, new tricks and bug fixes, so head on over to Bartlomiej Bargiel's announcement blog post to get the full details. To get the new version, simply start up iGTD or head up to the application menu and chose Check for Updates, or simply visit the iGTD downloads page and click the Current Release link to make sure you get the most up-to-date version.
Hazel update brings even more productivity to automated file manager
I instantly fell in love with Hazel from Noodlesoft the first time I found it back in September '06, and since then it has received a literal landslide of new features that make it even more indispensable to any heavy file trafficker. For those just tuning in, Hazel is fundamentally a file organization utility; it allows you to set up a series of rules that watch files in directories of your choosing, and then it carries out various actions based on your criteria. For example: I download a lot of videos, particularly motion pieces I find from studios all over the web. I also download a lot of DMGs and ZIPs in the name of TUAW, and as you might guess, after just a busy morning of all this watching and downloading, my desktop is about as messy as the typical freshman dormroom. Enter Hazel, the background file management ninja. For these two scenarios, I have a couple of rules that watch my Desktop for files of type Movie, DMG or ZIP which were added more than 1 day ago. These rules will then move said files into their respective directories (Movies and Software, as one might guess) and apply a blue label to them, just to make sure I know what was moved how.
Hazel - automated file management
Hazel is one of those rare pieces of software (with a strange name) that feels like it's filling a gaping feature void I didn't even know Apple left in Mac OS X: it's a powerful, rule-based file and folder management app that brings a little bit of Automator, AppleScript and Folder Actions to the table in a way that none of those apps and features do well on their own. Hazel installs as a System Preferences Pane and, as you can see, allows you to build a list of folders on the left with a list of toggle-able rules on the right. The on/off switch on these rules is key, as they make it easy to switch between running certain kinds of rules on a folder for different workflows, jobs, times of the day or week.
Griefing and self-governance in online games
The Guardian has produced an excellent column that addresses the problem of "griefers", people that abuse, team-kill and cheat other players of online games, particularly MMOs. Griefing has always been a problem where real players compete against their peers, although with massively multiplayer online games the problem has become much more serious. Earning a battleship in Eve Online or crafting a special item in World of Warcraft can take weeks if not months of game time. On top of that, the recent trend for people to sell items on auction sites like eBay has meant that rare online items have a monetary value.The article cites several high profile situations where griefers have bent moral codes with the Guiding Hand Social Club's ruination of Ubiqua Seraph in Eve Online and the funeral crash in WoW being the two main examples. Solutions that companies have come up with to limit these types of situations from happening are also looked at with the Xbox Live points system and strong community measures (like guilds and friend lists) being top on the list of letting players self-govern the problem. Effective community governance is essential if companies want to keep players inside the game and so that the owners don't have to resort to more drastic measures, like Blizzard does with its periodic account banning binges.Update: fixed a couple of minor grammatical errors.
iPod etiquette at the office
It must be a slow news day because everyone is writing about iPod etiquette. USA Today, America's newspaper with the highest concentration of pie charts, has some tips for using your iPod at the workplace. It seems that those white earbuds might signal to baby boomers (who I suppose are out of touch, judging from this article) that you are not working but rather listening to tunes and IMing your friends ('OMG!11!! iPodz rule. LOL').So, when if you are going to risk listening to your iPod at work keep this handy tips in mind: Always remove both earbuds when a co-worker is talking to you never 'bob' your head or hum along and my favorite: don't bring your iPod into a meeting If you need these tips then perhaps you shouldn't have a job. I'm just saying.[via Micro Persuasion]
When is a Raffle Considered Gambling?
A guild on Lightbringer decided to start holding different raffles to help increase the War Effort to get the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj open. They were offering great prizes and gold from their guild vault for people who were contributing materials to the Effort and it appeared to be working, as their server began to rise in the rankings. Then a Blizzard Game Master (GM) sent the raffle organizer an in-game mail saying that what they were doing was against Blizzard game policy since it was a form of gambling.In the end, the GM actually ended up placing a warning on the guild leader's account for performing illegal gambling.My take on this? Blizzard is making a mistake. As much as I despised the casinos that were available early in the game and was extremely pleased to see them go, I think Blizzard is significantly over-reacting to this guild's attempts to make the new game content more interesting. While their raffle may be able to be defined as gambling by its literal definition, I really don't see a problem with how they're running the raffle. It's helping their server achieve a goal, providing a better incentive to participate in the War Effort, and increasing teamwork on the server--something that'll be sorely needed once the Gates are opened.There's still no official word from Blizzard (a blue post), but I'll be eagerly watching this thread for an explanation (or apology?).
